Field of the Invention
This invention relates to enclosures, and more particularly, to a hybrid enclosure system that increases the volume of usable space, increases ingress into and egress out of the usable space, and reliably retains and confines water within a shower area (if used as a hybrid shower enclosure).
Description of Related Art
Traditionally, shower enclosures have consisted of either soft or rigid enclosures. The soft enclosures are primarily comprised of a shower curtain (a flexible cloth and/or plastic) in connection with a curtain rod and a sliding feature that allows the curtain to slide open/closed. The rigid enclosures are primarily comprised of glass or rigid plastic, usually using aluminum/plastic extrusions to hold various rigid glass panels together and made to retain water using silicone sealant.
Usage of conventional soft enclosures with shower curtains offers a very low cost option to enclose a shower area. One major drawback to the shower curtain construction is that they are very susceptible to leakage of water outside of the shower space because they cannot and do not reliably close-off the shower area completely. Of course, this is due in part to the well-known Bernoulli's principle, where an increase in the speed of the fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure or a decrease in the fluid's potential energy. That is, water speeding out of the showerhead creates a lower pressure inside the shower space defined by the enclosed shower curtain, compared to the outside. This air pressure differential causes the outside higher air pressure to push the curtain enclosure towards the source and cause of the lower air pressure inside the shower space, which is the speeding water existing the showerhead. According, since nothing physically connects the side and or bottom edges of the curtain enclosure to the tub or wall(s) or some other physical structure, the curtain moves towards inside the shower space. In other words, when the bottom and or sides of the curtain remain loose (i.e., unattached), the loose curtain will be susceptible to moving away from the walls or the curb of the tub/shower due to the air pressure differential on either side of the curtain. This movement may even result in the curtain moving toward the user of the shower, with the curtain even sticking to the person's body. This movement of the curtain away from the walls or curb of the tub/shower creates an opening for the water to leak, and not remain within the confine of the shower space. With the curtain able to move in any direction before, during, and after a shower, water is easily allowed to pass into the non-shower space, resulting in creation of a slippery surface, which can lead to water damage. Some attempts have been made to improve problems associated with leakage of water, for example, by sewing magnets or weights into the bottom corner of the curtain so that the curtain can stay within the tub, but water continues to leak out through the lateral vertical sides of the curtain.
The drawback with the usage of conventional rigid enclosures with glass panels with in-line or pivot doors is that rigid enclosures limit access, and narrow ingress into and egress out of the shower space. Most often, rigid enclosures such as glass shower enclosures have portions of their assembly or structures encroach into the potential ingress/egress area of the shower. This is always the case with in-line shower enclosures or sliding door applications. In-line shower enclosure may include bypassing doors that slide and bypass one another or may include one fixed panel on one side with an operating sliding door on the other side that slides and bypasses the fixed panel. In most in-line shower enclosures, the sliding door(s) and or the fixed panel with the sliding door are made slightly larger than one-half the total access space of the shower area, which allows the structures to overlap so to prevent water leakage. However, the result of the overlap is that the access to the shower area is reduced to about less than 40 percent, with over half blocked by either the fixed panel and or the sliding doors due to the overlapping feature.
For pivot door applications, there is generally a door that rotates out from the closed position, most commonly outward away from the shower space and toward the inside of a room. In the recreational vehicle (RV) industry where bathroom areas are minimal, pivot doors are generally not used. In addition, in the RV industry, rigid-type shower enclosures such as glass are generally also not used due to their weight, which, if used, generally result in higher gasoline cost for the operation of the RV. Accordingly, in most instances, in-line enclosures are generally preferred over pivot door applications.
Recent trends in new designs for soft shower enclosures change the curtain rod design to allow the basic enclosure to extend beyond the shower space by a curved curtain rod. This recent trend in shower enclosure designs has encouraged the increase in usable shower space by extending the curtain beyond the traditional confines of the traditionally defined shower area. This type of improvement has been introduced into the market with a curved shower rod used in connection with soft enclosures, such as a shower curtain. As indicated above, one major drawback to the shower curtain construction with or without this curved improvement is that they continue to be very susceptible to leakage of water outside of the shower space. As for the rigid-type enclosures, since conventional glass panels are solid and flat, they cannot and do not extend beyond the traditional shower space, and remain confined therein. Therefore, they cannot and do not extend or increase the showering area or space.
Accordingly, in light of the current state of the art and the drawbacks to current shower enclosures mentioned above, a need exists for an enclosure system that would combine most of the beneficial features of the soft and rigid shower enclosures, but without their respective drawbacks. In addition, a need exists for a shower enclosure system that would further increase the usable shower space when fully closed, and increase access to and from the shower space when fully open.